Saturday, March 01, 2008

Low Hanging Fruit

Greetings, and Dear Cynthia,

I've been thinking a little bit about my days working for my former company (which has a name that rhymes with "E" "G"). I think it is because one of my good friends from those days is getting married, and I just got the invitation to his wedding.

In any case, I was thinking about all of the "processes" we used while I was working there, and often if there was some catastrophe (really more of a nuisance in the grand scheme of what "catastrophe" can mean these days), we'd analyze the situation and try to figure out if the "process" had broken down someplace, or if somebody had sidestepped the "process",etc....

When I became a stay at home mom, there were many opportunities to put processes in place to facilitate the management of our home. One such process (common among those who do the family shopping, I'm sure) utilizes a little white board housed on the front of the refrigerator. Whenever anybody runs out of something (uses up the peanut butter), or takes the last stash of something (tube of toothpaste), he or she is supposed to write the item on the white board. Then, on the day I go to the grocery store, if I am thinking (which is not a "given"), I'll buy those items. I am going to the grocery store this afternoon. Here is the current state of the white board:I think the "process" broke down.....

Continuing with my nostalgic tour of my former work environment.... Have you heard the term "low hanging fruit"? For example, if you are working on a cost reduction, first you target the very high volume production models, because for one simple documentation change, you can save a lot of money due to the high volume. Low effort yields big bang = "low hanging fruit". With my knitting this week, I've been working on the "low hanging fruit" from my Mission Possible:2008 list...From left to right -- A normal fitting mitten for scale, a newly knit Amy Anderson pattern for an oven mitt (prior to felting), and another newly knit Amy Anderson pattern called "Tiny Totes" (also prior to felting). I actually was embarrassed working on the mitten in public, because it is so obviously a mitten, though also so obviously large that I'm sure those around me thought I was delusional to think it was going to fit a real person. To be honest, I do think that the mitten and tote are perhaps on the longish side even prior to felting. I'll let you know how things look **after** felting... Life on the edge!

Finally, progress on the bathroom cabinet. It all started years ago with a shower curtain:Then, a friend who thought there wasn't enough color in my home figured out the perfect accent color to paint a small portion of wall above the vanity in the bathroom. The color was selected with the shower curtain in mind. Last week, more than five years later, I painted the vanity cabinet to match. Now the shower curtain has to last forever.In any case, new door hardware:And, a "before and after" comparison:I happened to have everything required "on hand" except for the hardware, so the total cost of the project (not including my time) was about $14.00. I like it and my five year old likes it. DH was supportive, and my seven year old had no comment.

And, as long as we're touring the bathroom, a hanging knitted/felted fish:Well, I suppose I've delayed going to the grocery store long enough. I'm off the hook for dinner, though -- Ladies' night out with some friends, so DH and the boys are on their own.